Indian Express 17.08.2010
Worried by dengue, govt says will pay for tests
Chinki Sinha Tags : dengue tests, delhi Posted: Tue Aug 17 2010, 01:12 hrs
After the surge in cases reported from Okhla and Jamia Nagar, the Health department has said that it would pay for the expensive tests in Holy Family Hospital for those who can’t afford them.
Health Minister Kiran Walia, who was doing the rounds of the two localities until late on Monday evening, said the department would also press eight mobile clinics into service from Tuesday.
The mobile vans will first ascertain whether the patient is suffering from viral fever or dengue and refer them to Holy Family, which is already full of patients, and Malviya Nagar hospitals. Two ambulances would be dedicated to ferry the patients, she said.
Meanwhile, 20 more dengue cases were reported on Monday taking the number of cases to 254. As at least 32 of these cases have been reported from Jamia Nagar, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi said 12 hand-operated and two vehicle-mounted fogging machines have been deployed there. Besides, the civic agency has also put an epidemiologist in charge of the area to prevent the disease from spreading.
The civic agency says it has identified three dengue hotspots in the national capital — Vasant Kunj, Jamia Nagar and Lady Hardinge Medical Hospital campus. Because of Commonwealth Games work, mosquitoes have started breeding in stagnant water at Vasant Kunj. In Jamia Nagar, it is the proximity to Yamuna and lack of proper drainage facilities that have led to the rise in the number of cases, said MCD health officer N K Yadav.
But the rise in the number of cases of dengue has also resulted in a spat between the MCD and the Delhi government. On Monday, Walia said the MCD was not doing enough to control the disease. “We are mapping out the areas. All this is MCD’s responsibility, but I am doing it. I have found that they have not been putting this anti-larvae solution and I have asked the commissioner to do something about it,” she said. “Did they think of setting up medical camps? People are suffering. Okhla must be taken up on a priority basis,” the minister added.
The civic agency counters that it has been doing its best. It is the government’s job to ensure civic amenities in such areas and not let them be in an “unauthorised state”, MCD officials said.
While fogging machines can be effective for a couple of days only, the disease can be brought under control only by preventing the breeding of mosquitoes. Excess rainfall in the Capital has not helped the situation either, a health official said.
